"The biggest difference in my daily life is the dairy cow that I was able to buy. This has saved a lot of money that would otherwise have been used to buy the milk and therefore can be diverted into other meaningful family investments. My wife's business has also been boosted and she is now making more profits than she was making before we received this money. I am so happy and proud of my family altogether. All these has led to the improvement of the living standards of my family." (Occupation: Small business)

"I have been supplying sweets for some time now and I have realized that I still have a lot of time on my hands which I can use to run another business. I have been doing a lot of research on the best kind of business that would be easier yet profitable and I have come to a decision that I will start off a business selling bags. I will be doing most of the sales online and through hawking because I am currently not able to afford a business shop. My main goal however to have a shop where I can sell the bags and other items that I may add later on."

"My life has really changed because I no longer spent money to buy parrafin to lighting my house as l used to do before, since it was very expensive and yet i did not have stable source of income. I am also charging my phone with ease I do not need to go to the shopping centre to charge it." (Occupation: Small business)

"In my opinion , GiveDirectly did well by selectively giving money to the poorest members in my community which had no conditions and was non - refundable . As a result , the beneficiaries invested wisely more on what they lacked such as building new house, paying school fees for their children and not forgetting to venture in small business."

"Before my husband would borrow a loan at times to sustain the business during hard times. Now we are so happy that he has enough capital to run the livestock trading business with less struggle. All the profit he makes we spent on buying food, paying school fees and to cater to other family necessities which we couldn't afford before."

"My life will be different in the next six months in that I will have built a new house by then. I plan to save part of my monthly transfers to buy building materials such as timber, nails and iron sheets. This is my main goal for now and I would not want to wait until I am homeless so as to build a new one. If the rains come before I get enough building materials, I will take a loan from our table banking group and build a house then pay back the loan through GD transfers." (Occupation: Small business)

"I expect that in the near future I will have a running knitting business. The proceeds from this business will allow me to be a little less independent of my mother. I also hope that we will have an improved lifestyle, that we can eat and have all we need with little struggle. I want my family to be happy!"

"Before we started receiving these transfers, I used to buy and hawk around charcoal using my donkey. Charcoal is prohibited and since it leads to the destruction of forest cover and this led to sometimes being caught on the wrong side of the law. When I started receiving these transfers, I decided to leave this risky business and venture into farming. I was able to farm my idle piece of land and I currently have some beans that will soon be ready for harvesting. I also bought some sheep using the transfer received. I am grateful that since I started receiving the transfers, I have grown in terms of assets and farm activities."

"The biggest difference in my life since I started receiving these transfers is that I have improved harvest from what I used to get back then. Farming has been my main source of income for years now and having ploughed the same plot over and over, its production has really reduced. Since I did not have the resources to boost its fertility, I had to be contented with what I used to get. I felt I was struggling and not getting the expected harvest. When I started getting my transfers, I thought of a better way of making my life better and I resolved on farming still. I knew I could not thrive in business since I was not well educated and it does not do well here in my village. This is why I chose to start using improved farm inputs such as fertilizer and hybrid seeds on the same plot. As a result, my harvest has increased from 1 sack which I used to get and now I get a minimum of 5 sacks when I harvest. This has really changed my life because we have enough food in the house and whenever I have any financial emergency, I can sell some of the harvests to raise money to handle my needs comfortably without begging nor borrowing. I no longer have to bother my children to support me as before and I feel my financial burden has been reduced."

"I had just been released from jail after serving a three-year sentence for robbery. When I came back from jail, I had nothing or nowhere to live as my family had relocated to our native home years back due to their old age. Life was very tough since no one was willing to welcome me considering my terrible past, so I had to sleep in a Cinema hall made of second- hand iron sheets which was not in a very good condition and would be extremely cold at night. Eating was not easier having no source of income forcing me to go hungry on most occasions. When I received money from Give Directly, I got an opportunity to have a decent life by renting a house which at least guaranteed my safety and have a better living by buying the basic household requirements. I also got to set up a business that earns me some money for my daily upkeep and I no longer have to beg. Give Directly has given me the second chance in life that nobody was willing to give me because they all judged me by my previous acts. I am more than grateful to this organization because I am more than certain that without the financial assistance I received, I might have slipped back into crime to fend for myself."